Injured Jeter Out For Season in Loss to Detroit

By

Daniel Barbarisi

Updated Oct. 14, 2012 4:36 p.m. ET

NEW YORK—The Yankees were still out on the field, in the final moments of losing a game early Sunday in front of a funereal crowd, when a small group gathered in the athletic trainer's office deep inside Yankee Stadium.

Dr. Christopher Ahmad, the Yankees team physician, was flanked by general manager Brian Cashman, the team's trainer, Steve Donahue, and the revered former Yankee manager, Joe Torre.

ENLARGE

Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees reacts after he injured his leg in the 12th inning against the Detroit Tigers during game one of the American League Championship Series which started on Oct. 13, 2012, in New York.
Getty Images

And then there was Yankee captain Derek Jeter, his ankle immobilized. The other men were all there to tell Jeter something he didn't want to hear.

Ahmad told Jeter quickly, succinctly. His ankle was broken. His season was over. He emphasized to Jeter that this was something he couldn't play through, no matter how much toughness or grit or will he had.

Jeter said nothing, Cashman recalled. "He had no response."

As the Yankees filed into their clubhouse after losing the first game of the American League Championship Series, 6-4, to the Detroit Tigers, the word gradually spread, one by one. Some heard it from reporters. Others from teammates.

They all knew it would be bad. In the top of the 12th inning, every Yankee had watched Jeter move to his left, field the ground ball off the bat of Jhonny Peralta, take a step, and crumple to the ground. They saw him being helped off the field by Donahue and manager Joe Girardi. They saw him holding his leg off the ground.

But still, they hoped. Maybe it was just a sprain. Maybe he'd be back in a few days. Then they heard the news: the ankle was broken, Jeter would need a three-month recovery period, and the next time he would play baseball would be spring training 2013. And suddenly their all-important playoff loss seemed trivial by comparison.

"It was tough," said first baseman Mark Teixeira. "Obviously disappointed. Not only with the game, but more important, Derek, with his health. It's obviously really tough."

Teixeira saw Jeter briefly as he walked in after the game. He asked Jeter what had happened.

"It's broken," was all Jeter said.

"I'm sorry," Teixeira responded. There was nothing else to say.

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Derek Jeter (C) is helped off the field by trainer Steve Donahue (L) and manager Joe Girardi.
European Pressphoto Agency

Girardi explained that Jeter has a crack in the bone on the top of his left ankle. No surgery is planned for the moment, but there will be more tests Sunday.

Jeter has dealt with foot issues since early September, and has hobbled around to various degrees since then. Cashman speculated there was a connection.

"It very well could be related," Cashman said. "He's been banged up with that foot, so I would think it is related."

But through all those nagging problems, Jeter has never asked out of the lineup. Every day, when Girardi asks how he is doing, Jeter responds the same way.

"You know, there's some times when you see him limping pretty badly and I will ask him 'are you OK?' And he says, 'I'm great. Let's go,'" Girardi said.

When Girardi saw Jeter go down, and not get up, he knew this time was different.

Earlier

Even this time, when he knew he was seriously hurt, he refused to be carried off the field, accepting only a little support from Girardi and Donahue as he hopped off.

"Even when I went to the field, and I was going to carry him in, and he said, 'No, do not carry me,'" Girardi said. "That's the kind of guy he is."

The crowd, understanding what they were seeing, chanted Jeter's name as he was helped off.

Jeter, 38, has hit the disabled list on a few occasions over his 18-year career, but only once has had a significant injury, when he separated his shoulder on opening day of the 2003 season. This injury shouldn't impact his career, Girardi said, and Jeter should be ready to play again at the start of spring training.

Jeter's injury comes following a season when the Yankee captain re-established himself as an offensive force and lineup catalyst, leading the league with 215 hits and batting .316 with 15 home runs and 99 runs scored. As his Yankee teammates slumped their way through the postseason, Jeter has remained hot, hitting .364 in the Division Series win over Baltimore.

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter broke his ankle in the 12th inning of Saturday night's playoff game against the Detroit Tigers. The injury will keep Jeter from playing for the rest of the season. WSJ's Dan Barbarisi reports on Jeter's injury.

This isn't the first time this year that the Yankees have had to deal with the loss of an iconic player. In May, Mariano Rivera, the famed Yankee closer, tore his knee shagging fly balls during batting practice before a game in Kansas City.

That night, the Yankees were stunned, but Rivera addressed the team, and told them to move forward without him. They did, overcoming that and other injuries to post the best record in the American League.

This time, the Yankees seemed just as deeply in shock, if not worse, because the danger is so immediate. Having fallen in Game 1 Saturday, the Yankees play again at 4:07 p.m. Sunday, now facing a 1-0 deficit in this best-of-seven playoff series. Just as Rivera did before, Jeter will likely address his teammates before their game, and tell them to move on without him.

"Just like Mo said, we have to move on," Girardi said. "We have to find a way to get it done. I think some people left us for dead when Mo went down, and here we are in the ALCS. And Jeet is going to tell us, 'Let's go.'"

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